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Tracking the truants

22 January 2000

Electronic fingerprinting has replaced the traditional daily register in six
private schools in Japan. The Tokyo-based Toshin Eisei Yobiko group of schools
has introduced the system to track students and prevent them skipping school and
sending friends to take their place. Outraged educationalists have condemned the
technology as invasive and demeaning, but a school spokesman claims it is more
convenient than using magnetic strip ID cards, which can be lost, stolen or
passed on to others.